Various transactions in business activities of an enterprise should be converted into accounting data to be utilized as financial information necessary for management and administration of the enterprise. To convert basic data generated in the transactions into the accounting data in a journalizing process, the transactions are analyzed by using a double entry book-keeping principle. Specifically, accounts of debit and credit sides are determined and then amounts corresponding to each of the accounts are distributed based on balance of credits and debits in the journalizing process.
Recent development of information processing technology using computers makes fast processing of transaction data feasible. In this environment, various methods have been suggested and employed in order to automate the journalizing process, wherein the transaction data are converted into the accounting data (usually, financial accounting data).
A key technique for the automation of the journalizing process is to classify debits and credits and determine accounts based on 8 elements of transaction. That is, the matter of classifying types of transaction and determining debits and credits and accounts is of central importance in achieving the automation of the journalizing process. Hereinafter, conventional semi-automatic or automatic journalizing systems will be described.
In Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-0003666 (Patent Application No. 10-2000-0034993) (hereinafter, referred to as prior art #1), there is disclosed an automatic journalizing system using a key word search method. If a user inputs a familiar transaction word, e.g., a word ‘payment’, as a search keyword, account list information that can be matched with transaction outline data corresponding to the key word is offered to the user. Then, the user selects accounts to thereby enable journalizing.
Though the prior art #1 has an advantage in that it provides a semi-automatic journalizing system which a user, even a novice in accounting, can conduct the journalizing process, it also has a critical defect in that classification of debits and credits (hereinafter referred to as a D/C classification) cannot be automatically performed in this system. Thus, it is still the user who determines debits and credits. Therefore, in a case of a complex transaction, the complex transaction being defined herein as a transaction in which a plurality of accounts of debit and/or credit sides are involved at the same time, it is probable that the user fails to make a proper D/C classification. Further, in processing the complex transaction, the keyword search process and the journalizing process should be performed several times, wherein the user frequently has difficulty in selecting accounts. To ameliorate this problem, the prior art #1 employs an additional correcting process in which an expert examines the journalizing process and corrects errors therein. In this regard, it is apparent that the prior art #1 has a limit in implementing an automatic journalizing system. Furthermore, it happens frequently that a target transaction outline and accounts corresponding thereto are not found until the keyword search process is performed many times, thereby lowering its efficiency.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-167221 (Patent Application No. 2000-797079) (hereinafter referred to as Prior Art #2) discloses a journalizing system using a two-step classification mechanism. In accordance with the journalizing system in the Prior Art #2, all transactions are classified into 16 patterns and the 16 patterns are offered to a user's computer screen. If the user selects one of them in a first step, detailed transaction items corresponding to the selected transaction pattern are displayed on the screen. Then, if the user selects one of the transaction items in the second step, an account corresponding to the selected transaction item is automatically determined.
As described, the Prior Art #2 classifies all transactions into the transaction patterns through the two-step classification mechanism. However, in case a transaction that belongs to none of the transaction patterns prescribed in the system is involved, journalizing thereof becomes very difficult and confusing. In other words, since the user should select one of the transaction patterns classified in the system in advance, flexibility in selecting a transaction pattern may not be secured. Further, in the case of a complex transaction, the user needs to separate the complex transaction into several simple transactions in order to use the automatic journalizing system in accordance with the Prior Art #2. Thus, it is difficult for a user, a novice in accounting, to use the system and there still exists limitation in achieving real automation of the journalizing process.
Korean Patent No. 10-0230455 (Patent Application No. 10-1997-0030825) (hereinafter referred to as Prior Art #3) suggests an automatic journalizing system in which a journalizing process is performed after a transaction type (e.g., cash inflow or cash outflow), a transaction pattern (e.g., purchase, storage of inventories in a warehouse, payment, etc., and sub-patterns thereof), and a transaction condition (e.g., cash, bank deposit, note, credit, setoff, etc.) are determined when a transaction occurs. To be specific, the transaction type, the transaction pattern and the transaction condition are designated by the user through input and selection of transaction data and, then, the journalizing process is performed based on these preset data.
The prior art #3 provides itemized transaction types to the user, thereby improving accuracy in the journalizing process. However, this system requires for the user to be familiar with accounting knowledge. Further, since the user should select one of the transaction types prescribed by the system, flexibility in selecting a transaction type may not be secured. Further, in a case of a complex transaction, the user needs to separate the complex transaction into several simple transactions in order to use the automatic journalizing system in accordance with the Prior Art #3. Thus, it is difficult for an accounting novice user to use the system of the Prior Art #3. In addition, there still exists limitation in achieving real automation of the journalizing process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,173 and its corresponding Korean Patent Application No. 1993-0014324 which has been registered as Korean Patent No. 1996-001486 disclose an automatic journalizing method, which is referred to as prior art #4 hereinafter.
In the prior art #4, the user should determine for a transaction to which field, among 5 fields of ‘purchase activity’, ‘sales activity’, ‘financial activity’, ‘production activity ’ and ‘management activity’, the transaction belongs. If the user selects one of the five fields, a menu of secondary business activities in that field, the menu being already prepared in the system, is offered to the user, and the user chooses one of the secondary business activities from the menu. Then, if the user selects a settlement type (e.g., cash, bank deposit, credit, note, etc.) and inputs settlement amount, the system performs the journalizing process.
Although the prior art #4 succeeds in realizing automation of the journalizing process while improving user friendliness, there still exist unsolved problems that the journalizing process cannot be successfully performed in case a complex transaction is involved. Further, since it is required to specify all possible transaction patterns in a system processor unit in order to match the secondary business activities menu with final accounts in accordance with the prior art #4, construction of the system becomes very difficult. To reduce the construction difficulty of the system, it is inevitable to increase the user's burden in selecting menu and inputting data. Further, if, for example, a certain transaction involves “purchasing goods by getting a loan from a bank”, it can be classified as a purchase activity and also as a financial activity. Thus, the duplicity of journalizing as in the above example may give the user difficulty in selecting the menu and the design of the system itself becomes difficult.
As described above, the conventional automatic journalizing methods and systems have many drawbacks. In order to overcome the limits of the conventional systems, a new automatic journalizing method and system should satisfy several requirements as follows. The new method and system should be able to correctly and fully match a transaction outline determined by a user with final accounts of debit and/or credit sides while improving friendliness to a novice. Further, the new system should be able to automatically process various transactions including a complex one. Furthermore, the system should be designed in such a way that it should be capable of providing a higher degree of flexibility for the user and overcome the processing difficulty caused by the duplicity of journalizing.